Manchester United duo Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney to miss Chelsea clash

Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie will miss the Chelsea clash

David Moyes has confirmed that Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie will miss Manchester United‘s game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The Dutch forward, van Persie, has been out injured since early-December with a thigh injury sustained while taking a corner kick and is still not ready to return to action.

Rooney was sent away on a warm weather training break just over a week ago to recover in time for the match but his groin injury has not recovered fast enough to make the game at Stamford Bridge.

“Wayne’s come back, he’s fresh but he’s not ready for Chelsea,” Moyes told reporters.

“He’s training, he’s on the grass, doing some running and looking quite good. He’s had a break, done a lot of strengthening work around his groin and hopefully enjoyed a few days in the sunshine as well. Hopefully he’ll benefit from it, but not for this game.

“I don’t want to put a date on it just now as I don’t want to say he’ll be fit for whatever game and then I find he’s not, but we’ve just got to take it bit by bit. I’ve watched him running today; he looks well and is in really good condition.

“I’m hoping Robin has a good chance of training at the start of next week, so if I can get him back out on the grass and back with us, it’ll be a great boost for us all,” he added.

“He’s a really important player and a player we’ve missed. But he’s getting closer now and most of them are getting closer to fitness, so let’s hope it’s not too long until we get them back.”

United are already 11 points behind the leaders Arsenal and defeat at Chelsea could end their title hopes once and for all as a win at the Emirates against Fulham for the Gunners will stretch the lead to 14 points.